Marquez second quickest, Pedrosa eighth on Day 1 at rainy Motegi

The two free practice sessions of the Japanese Grand Prix’s opening day were characterised by steady rain and cool temperatures, but Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez showed a great pace from the beginning of the action.

Marc was fastest in the FP1 session and was pushing hard during FP2 after fitting a new rear tyre when he suffered a high-side at turn 4, causing him to miss the last minutes of the session. Nonetheless, the time he had already set was fast enough to place him second on the day, a mere 0.043” off provisional pole-setter Andrea Dovizioso.

After ending the first stint in 20th place because he was struggling with a lack of grip, Dani Pedrosa found a better rhythm in the afternoon and ultimately closed the day in eighth place, less than a second off the top.

Marc Marquez

1'54.9202nd

“This morning everything was perfect and I felt very, very good on the bike. That was the case until the last exit of FP2, despite having to go back from a change to the setup that hadn’t work as well as we hoped. At the end of the session we fit a new set of tyres and I had a different feeling, less grip. I suffered a high-side, which is a bit uncommon in MotoGP now, but in the end, I’m fine. We need to check for why it happened, and we can certainly work a bit on the electronics to understand how to improve that side. Anyway, our speed was there and our lap times came out good, so our mentality will remain the same. I feel confident for the weekend.”

Dani Pedrosa

1'55.7738th

“This morning was very tough as we struggled to put heat into the tyres and I had no grip at all. In the afternoon we modified the setup, aiming to cope with these cold temperatures, and we improved a little bit but not enough yet. I’m still feeling uncomfortable on the bike due to the lack of grip. We had a softer tyre spec available, but looking at the forecast, we expect more rain to come. We preferred to continue with the tyre configuration that we think can last the race, looking to understand how to make them work better for us.”

MotoGP 2017Friday, October 13th 2017

Practice
Round 15
Grand Prix of JapanJapan

First Practice Results

Wet

Humidity

100%

Track Temp

17°C

Air Temp

15°C

Pos.

Rider

Num

Nation

Team

Constructor

Time/Gap

1

Dovizioso Andrea

4

ITA

Ducati Team

Ducati

1'54.877

2

Marquez Marc

93

SPA

Repsol Honda Team

Honda

0.043

3

Espargaro Aleix

41

SPA

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini

Aprilia

0.184

4

Lorenzo Jorge

99

SPA

Ducati Team

Ducati

0.357

5

Zarco Johann

5

FRA

Monster Yamaha Tech 3

Yamaha

0.591

6

Petrucci Danilo

9

ITA

Octo Pramac Racing

Ducati

0.664

7

Iannone Andrea

29

ITA

Team Suzuki Ecstar

Suzuki

0.737

8

Pedrosa Dani

26

SPA

Repsol Honda Team

Honda

0.896

9

Crutchlow Cal

35

GBR

LCR Honda

Honda

1.272

10

Rins Alex

42

SPA

Team Suzuki Ecstar

Suzuki

1.352

11

Vinales Maverick

25

SPA

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

Yamaha

1.499

12

Rossi Valentino

46

ITA

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP

Yamaha

1.558

13

Nozane Kohta

31

JPN

Monster Yamaha Tech 3

Yamaha

1.576

14

Redding Scott

45

GBR

Octo Pramac Racing

Ducati

1.803

15

Abraham Karel

17

CZE

Pull&Bear Aspar Team

Ducati

1.899

16

Bautista Alvaro

19

SPA

Pull&Bear Aspar Team

Ducati

1.950

17

Smith Bradley

38

GBR

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

KTM

1.976

18

Espargaro Pol

44

SPA

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Yamaha

1.995

19

Lowes Sam

22

GBR

Aprilia Racing Team Gresini

Aprilia

2.373

20

Baz Loris

76

FRA

Reale Avintia Racing

Ducati

2.382

21

Barbera Hector

8

SPA

Reale Avintia Racing

Ducati

2.663

22

Aoyama Hiroshi

7

JPN

EG 0,0 Marc VDS

Honda

2.671

23

Rabat Tito

53

SPA

Marc VDS Racing Team

Honda

2.768

24

Nakasuga Katsuyuki

21

JPN

Yamalube Yamaha Factory Racing

Yamaha

3.464

Gallery

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Location Information

Located amongst the vast natural beauty of the northern Kanto district, the twin ring circuit at Motegi in Japan consists of a 1.5 mile oval and a 2.9 mile road course constructed to international standards. Built by Honda as the ultimate test facility in August 1997, the road circuit became… read more.

Location Information

Located amongst the vast natural beauty of the northern Kanto district, the twin ring circuit at Motegi in Japan consists of a 1.5 mile oval and a 2.9 mile road course constructed to international standards. Built by Honda as the ultimate test facility in August 1997, the road circuit became… read more.